Tales of the Starlight Crusade: The Maulan Officer

Excerpt from:

New Age Press

Ames the 1st, 3E8

Karashartal Names Maulan as Vice-Captain

By Lyra Blackstone

FIDES- The newly established Starlight Crusade Headquarters is abuzz with anticipation as the first of its forces begin to arrive from throughout the known world. The captains of the Crusade's five vessels each seem to be in particularly good spirits as they welcome the first of the officers who will serve under them. The Avatar Atunis Astersong, who captains the Karashartal has selected a stable of Midania's most prestigious faces to help him staff Midania's vessel, from mariknights to Katrinean shaman. But none of these appointments have gotten more attention than his selection of a maulan by the name Largo as his second-in-command. Largo currently commands the crew of the mariknight flagship, the Light's Grace in the place of its original captain, Harley Rumgourd-- who remains among the prisoners the Starlight Crusade seeks to rescue from the planet Mennon. 

Even among the Mariknights' commanders, Largo is a controversial figure. When reached for comment, Captain Dan Skye of the Wavehammer elaborates, "He's been denied a promotion to captain for years because only his own captain and the Admiral [Atunis Astersong] seem to trust him. 

The New Age Press has reached out to the Avatar and Karashartal Captain for comment regarding the maulan. Astersong stresses that Largo has demonstrated all of the merits necessary for his position and has proven to be trustworthy. When told that his trust is contrary to conventional wisdom among both the other mariknights and his Restan countrymen regarding the maulans--who are said to lack free will and live only for Lady Maula's amusement--he maintained this position. 

"As someone who has known Largo for several years, I can safely say that he is a highly competent leader who can think critically and act of his own accord. If experts somehow do not believe this is possible, I would say that they need to reexamine their beliefs... We've served together in dangerous situations. On top of that, I have seen him command respect from the mariknights who have served under him. They all trust him as I do."

On the Avatar's advice, the New Age Press has reached out to Largo for comment on the controversy surrounding his appointment. Although he had a reputation for being a man of few words, the subject of his trustworthiness is something he is admittedly quite passionate about.

"I understand everyone's concerns since I wasn't born to have free will. Mortals understand that the gods have plans for them while my kind exist only to satisfy even the most petty whims of our mistress. That can terrify people who remember when she was a threat to them."

Largo went on to explain that maulans become subject to less of Lady Maula's attention as they get older. By the time they reach the age of ten, they are all but ignored. Without the wishes of the Death Goddess to motivate them, maulans face an existential crisis that will sound familiar to many of Midania's sai'mul citizens.

"The first question we ask ourselves at this point in our lives is what we exist for. When the one whose pleasure we exist to create no longer cares enough about what you do, there is no comfort that mortals can offer because we know that we are fundamentally different from them."

Largo was summoned by the First Archknight shortly before the Champion of Geos seized the Restan throne 56 years ago. Although Maulans were afforded legal protection during the early years of the Geosian Regime, these protection were rescinded when rebel Maulans banded together for an ill-fated assault on Resta's Gilded Keep. Although Largo was not involved in this attack, he went into hiding with the templars who fled from Resta and formed the Holy Key Knights.

"Geos didn't wish us any harm because his love for his sister extended to her playthings, but when the other Gods were banished from the world, she willingly went with them. When she did, she left many of us behind without a purpose for decades! Most of us who develop a will of our own as a result of our Mistress' neglect choose to throw our lives away at her feet with the hope of amusing her even slightly. But since we couldn't find her to do so, we were forced to live among the mortals until she could return. It was during that time I learned how to sail from the templars."

Largo served as a helmsman on the Holy Key Knights' vessel, the Gods' Vengeance for the duration of the regime. It was in this new life on the sea that Largo found a purpose to drive him forward when he would have preferred to die. Following the Archknight Rebellion--in which the Second Archknight liberated the Fadalians and Resta from Geos' rule-- newly-crowned Restan monarch Kyle Baldus richly rewarded the members of the Holy Key Knights who participated in Kartal Marle's quest, but only thanked Largo in the belief that he couldn't wish for much more.

"I didn't mind being passed over for land and titles and the like because I found something more important along the way. I love sailing. That's how I found myself becoming a mariknight in the first place!"

Largo managed to acquire and restore a derelict ship following the disbandment of the Holy Key Knights. With this vessel, he ran a small business that offered chartered voyages to places that mortal sailors feared to approach. Though he was still feared for what he was, he found several clients among those he claims had a "death wish." That was until he was recalled to the Temple of the Children in Foldo in the first time since the Fadalians' banishment.

"The saddest part is that no matter how much joy we find in the world or how much pain she has given us, it's impossible for us to drop our loyalty to Lady Maula completely. More than thirty years later, I was prepared to rip off my own skin for her amusement."

But Largo's summons were initiated not by the Death Goddess, but by Aennin Moonstep. Maula's Avatar would enlist his services on behalf of Lord Astersong and gift him with a more modern vessel. That was when Largo took Astersong to Midania to aid in his mission to revive the mariknights at Lady Salica's bequest.

"I took him all around the Dervish Ocean, met a man who survived from the original mariknights as a sai'mul and just... became one of them. Nobody ever asked me what I wanted, Harley just assumed that I was there to be in the new fleet. I went along with it at first because I thought it would benefit the Avatar that I was commanded to help, but when Atunis left, I stuck around because I was having too much fun to leave my new crew behind." 

Largo has reportedly been considered a valued member of the first mariknight ship to sail for Midania's new fleet. Although the mystical abilities of the mariknights of old were once unique to Captain Rumgourd, he served as the Vice-Captain of the Light's Grace due to the seniority conferred by his sailing experience until he became the highest-ranking member of the crew. His assumption of command following Captain Rumgourd's abduction has been contested by other captains in the fleet throughout his career. Despite this, Lord Astersong remains confident that Largo the maulan has earned the trust he and his crew show him and that he will be a great asset to the Starlight Crusade.

World Exclusive: The Windlord Commanders (Page 9)

Excerpt from

The Saluki- Ames the 3rd, 3E8

Continued from Page 8

The "New Windlords" as Skye described their group got off to a slow start, partly because of the cultural stigma associated with the curse marks they bore. As important as their ancestors' work historically proved to be to all of Galeon, many of these legacy windlords balked at the notion of owning their heritage. In those days, those who were cursed by Crane for their ancestors' hubris bore a heavy toll. Orthodox Intalans encouraged their complete ostracization in voices that were difficult to ignore. But Hawke and Skye were undaunted by these challenges.

The very first major project for this organization outside of recruitment was the discovery of a new Windtalker Party that had worked its way back into the realm of public discourse, taking advantage of the Windlords' descent. They began to notice the Windtalkers allegedly exerting an influence on public councilors nationwide as well as community leaders to engage in a war against the media.

"They weren't just trying to silence journalists, they were spying on them," Skye says with a deadpan expression. "They were looking for anything they could find to intimidate people into telling stories that benefited them instead of the truth."

When asked what evidence they could produce of these accusations, Skye declined to comment.

But stopping the Windtalkers from subverting the free press proved to be a daunting task to untrained spies without the Windlords' legendary magical skills. When word got out of their opposition, the Windtalkers began to target the New Windlords individually. This contributed to a sharp decline in the group's membership. By the time The Betrayer came to break the curse, the organization had been whittled down to just five members, including Skye and Hawke.

"Of course we were in over our heads at the time," Skye says with a deep sigh. "But after what happened with the Saintal, we knew we had a destiny that we couldn't run from. That's why we were thrilled to meet Mister Broger at the time. He brought that destiny to us."

Both the former and current Avatar of Crane traveled to Galeon together for the first time last year seeking to break the curse in a worldwide event now known as the Miracle of the Lost Creeds, in which the Avatars resurrected not only the ways of the Windlords, but also the legendary Pyromancers, Mariknights, and Stoneguard. Skye was Broger's first volunteer. Hawke was their second. For her part, Skye accepted the Avatar's gift reluctantly, having had her conviction worn down by public ingratitude and Windtalker obstruction. But when she and Hawke came out as the first of the new generation of Windlords, many more followed.

"It was everything we could have ever wanted. Not only were the Windlords back, we were back with the blessing of Crane himself," Ellie says with what appears to be a twinkle in her eye. "The stigma practically disappeared overnight and people began to speak with hope about us again."

For Hawke, however, this jubilation was short-lived. While Skye focused on rebuilding the order, Hawke followed the Avatars into battle against the infamous collective of dangerous creatures known as the Knightmares, Standing among a historically unique coalition of both windlords and mariknights, Hawke went into battle against Aldin, a wizard who is said to have been of the same species as the gods themselves. This battle, which had over 30 confirmed casualties, ended with a well thrown dart tipped in a mysterious poison he had received from the Avatars.

This conflict would lead Hawke, the Avatars, and members of each of the formerly Lost Creeds to a fateful mission to rescue the Avatars of Life, Death, and Time from the Master Knightmare, Erdas. This mission would end in failure for the Avatars as The Betrayer fled the planet with Lords Moonstep and Marle as well as Hawke, a Mariknight named Harley Rumgourd, and the Eione Astersong, the woman who would go on to become Crane's Adjutant. All five of these people remain missing to this day.

But Skye refuses to give up hope. "Broger wouldn't have taken them from this world just to kill him. We're going to Mennon soon and when we do, we're going to rescue James, the Avatars, and the other people they've taken from us. You can count on that."

Skye's optimism and cheerful attitude was disarming at first, but did nothing to detract from her glowing reputation. When asked why she would be so open about her past, given her high-profile status in a traditionally low-profile organization, she concluded with these words.

"The problem with our ancestors was that they tried to take everything onto themselves. They grew arrogant, believing that safeguarding information was their sole responsibility. We are a new generation that recognizes that information belongs to everyone. We can't take people's secrets while keeping our own in modern Galeon, so we won't."

Ellie Skye will be leading the Windlords as they join the Starlight Crusade in ending the threat of Erdas, avenging Chaos' injury at the hands of The Betrayer, and rescuing the five brave souls lost on the water planet Mennon. With such a daunting war ahead of us all, this windlord remains a source of confidence for an uncertain army.

World Exclusive: The Windlord Commanders (Page 8)

Excerpt from The Saluki- Ames the 3rd, 3E8

Continued from Page 1

As Skye recounts the story of the story of her first encounter with Hawke, she begins to speak a little at a rapidly, as if the subject excites her. When she first moved to Fides, she had initially kept to herself. With a chuckle, she adds that her enthusiasm for her new country grew rather slowly until tragedy changed her routine. Following the sudden and untimely death of her sister, Julia, Skye's once-solitary wanderings through Bright Town became so riddled with turbulent emotion that onlookers couldn't ignore her. Desperate to put some distance between herself and a parade of well-wishing strangers, she fled to farthest reaches of Bright Town, where closer proximity with the rest of Fides blurred the neighborhood's distinct Restan cultural influence. It was there that she ran into James Hawke by chance and began a fateful friendship.

"We had so much in common," Ellie says with a nostalgic smile. "We were both immigrants who were discovering who we could be without our Restan values to hold us back. But what we really bonded over was our siblings."

Hawke would help Skye to accept her loss by talking about the relationship he had with his older brother and comparing him to Julia. These stories helped Skye to put her time with her sister in perspective and enshrine those memories in her mind. Even when Hawke revealed the dark side of his relationship with his brother, with whom he had allegedly had a violent falling out, Skye took solace in the purity of Julia's devotion to her sibling.

"If she could see me now, she'd have no problem recognizing me even though I've changed so much," Skye says. "She was always the first person I would go to for anything. Whenever I was hurt, she would be the one to treat my wounds and curse whoever caused my pain. When I didn't understand something, she would try to explain it to me or help me to find the answers she didn't have. She was easily my greatest role model. When she died, I was so lost with no hope of learning to live without her. But James was the one who helped me to find my way again."

The two future windlords began to spend a lot of time together and Ellie found her way into a close-knit group of friends which included former HDL Captain Phillip Winstrom. The three of them formed a local chapter of the controversial monster-hunting organization, Slayer Club International (SCI). While Winstrom was the clear warrior of the group, even a girl without training could find a purpose in the Slayer Club.

"I was the fastest person in the group at the time and I was always good at climbing, so I was a spotter," Sky explains. "What I'd do is follow our targets along the rooftops and tell the others where to go. Then, Phillith would get the attention of whatever creature we were following while James would finish them off with his throwing knives."

The Fides SCI chapter grew swiftly under the combined guidance of the three friends, but the adventures were short lived for Hawke and Skye. In Gyatal of 3E4, a rogue engineer out of the Fides Academy of Engineering (FAE), activated the Saintal, an insidious machine that was meant to impair cognitive function on a large scale in Fides. Curiously, neither Hawke nor Skye were affected.

"I don't think any of us were, the legacy windlords, I mean," Skye explained. "We're still not sure how, but everyone who resisted the machine's effects seemed to have a curse mark like ours."

With nearly everyone in the city incapacitated by the intelligence-draining effects of the Saintal, the future windlords took it upon themselves to do something. With twelve equally confused bearers of Crane's curse and their background in SCI behind them, Hawke and Skye tracked down the terrorist who was using the Saintal, apprehended him, and deactivated the machine. Although they saved the city, they were quickly met with the same distrust that society had always inflicted on the people who bear the curse once everyone had recovered. HDL responders who interrogated the curse-marked allegedly pressured them to disband the group they had formed immediately and denied them any credit for their deeds.

"That was when we got the idea to try to reform the order," Ellie says with a stern expression on her face. "Our ancestors stood for truth and freedom of information and here we were being involved in an elaborate lie because people were still uncomfortable with us."

So, Hawke and Skye left SCI and began to gather fellow descendants of the windlords and meet in secret. They lacked their ancestors' control over the wind as well as any of the other magic for which windlords were famous, but they wouldn't let that stop them. Even without their powers, they were united in the original purpose of their forebears. They didn't have a plan for their resurgence, but their efforts to organize made it easy for the former Avatar of Crane to gather them when the God of Knowledge himself deigned to break their curse and unlock the memories that comprised the legacy of Aeros Academy. Continued on Page 9.

World Exclusive: The Windlord Commanders (Page 1)

Excerpt from 

The Saluki - Ames the 3rd, 3E8 (Page 1)

The Windlords Who Wait

Windlords' Leadership Revealed

By Devorah Cline

For centuries, the Windlords of Aeros Academy have swept through Galeon, uncovering the secrets of the this land's most powerful figures for the good of the public. According to polls conducted by The Saluki, their purpose is perceived by the majority of Galean citizens to cut through the veils of secrecy itself and bring truth to every corner of the country. This reputation seems to be at odds with the secretive nature of the windlords themselves. For the entirety of their history, they have maintained that the dangerous nature of their work makes it necessary to protect their identities from potential enemies. But in a new age of uncertainty and change, transparency is more important than ever, even for the denizens of Aeros Academy.

It would seem that Ellie Skye, the acting Commander of the order, agrees. For the first time ever, a windlord agreed to sit down with us and reveal who she is and why she refuses to permanently accept her current role among the windlords. When she arrived to our scheduled interview, it was twenty minutes earlier than expected and she confessed that she was worried about running late. Her hasty apology included a promise that she had a lot to say, but the hour we spent talking afterwards was what proved this claim.

She began by telling about her own background as a spy, which began with her family moving to Galeon from the Restan city of Seres. It was in Bright Town, a district of Fides surrounding the Restan embassy, that the future Windlord lived with her older sister Julia and their grandmother, Helen Winstrom. Although Bright Town remains a welcoming neighborhood for Restan immigrants who wish to ease into the local culture, Ellie was eager to throw herself into the culture of her new home.

"I never felt any special attachment to Resta," Skye says, matter-of-factly. "So when we arrived in Galeon, I was ready to try being a Galean almost immediately."

Living in Galeon was a liberation of sorts for Miss Skye. It was in Fides, the windlord recalls, that she began to express herself in a way that she never could in Resta, due to their culture's archaic interpretation of gender. In her former homeland, she lived as a boy, but never found much satisfaction in blending in with her peers.

"I was just going through the motions, trying desperately to appear normal," she admits with an expression that could be interpreted as sadness. "In those days, I was only comfortable being myself around Julia."

But in Galeon, she found herself surrounded by like-minded people for the first time. Among them was her dear friend and current Windlord Commander, James Hawke. Hailing from Bright Town as well, Hawke was Skye's first friend and served as her gateway to the local community. The two bonded over many similarities, including their Restan origins, their respective experiences with gender, and perhaps the most important: the curse marks that signaled their windlord ancestry.

"It was practically fate for us to have met. It's one thing to have a friend who has so much in common with you, but it goes even deeper than that. James and I are the leaders specifically because of who our ancestors were."

Skye went on to explain that James Hawke was descended from the former leader of the windlords who were said to have found the mythical Skyres City over two centuries years ago. She confirmed this legendary exploit as truth while also admitting that her own ancestor was the former leader's lieutenant. When the infamous Broger the Betrayer, then the Avatar of Crane, arrived to break Crane's curse, Hawke and Skye were among his first volunteers. It was through the breaking of this curse that all of their ancestors' lost memories were transferred to the minds of their descendants.

"That's when I learned something about our curse marks," she says while showing off the dragon symbol etched into her lower back. "When our ancestors were cursed, these symbols appeared in the exact spot that Selon Res was looking when we were stricken with his magic. My ancestor was stricken in the back because he was commanded to flee. James' ancestor, on the the other hand, took the curse head on and so his mark is on the chest. His ancestor was an admirable man, and inheriting his skills in particular makes him the most capable among us."

This is where our conversation took a turn toward the Commander himself. Skye seems to talk about him with a mixture of both respect and a multitude of complaints. While he is remembered as a brave and comforting presence, Skye took plenty of time recounting specific instances in which she was annoyed by his displays of extreme confidence. But this leads to a very crucial question that Skye has stated is on the minds of most windlords. "Where is James Hawke now?"

As it turned out, Hawke was among the five people captured by the Betrayer during his eponymous betrayal. It is unknown whether he continues to live, but Skye refuses to believe he's dead. 

"He was a survivor long before he acquired our ancestors' knowledge and skills," Skye insists. "We're going to find out he's alive any day now and that he's been collecting volumes of useful data on the people of Mennon while waiting for us to rescue him."

Skye has proven to be an effective leader, providing a professional and relatable face of the modern Windlord order. It is for this reason that her faith in the Windlords' official commander seems surprising. To understand why she holds on to the faintest hope of James Hawke's survival, we decided to go deeper. As our conversation spanned deeper into Ellie Skye's shared past with Hawke, she became more comfortable.  Continued on Page 8

The Occulus Program

Comalan's first venture into interplanetary warfare was believed by many to be an impossible campaign for a world which had never before even seen its first astronauts leaving the planet's orbit. But when a deadly threat challenges the children of the Fadalians from afar, the people of Comalan have no choice but to stand and answer this challenge. This was the guiding principle of a team of engineers at the Seres Machinist's Union, Resta's only school of engineering. Through liberal applications of magic, the team at SMU created the Occulus Program, a system of long-range surveillance that was tasked with scouting both of the worlds that Comalanians were set to explore before their arks even left the ground. This mission was met with mixed reactions from all involved in the Starlight Crusade, but The Restan Star, the kingdom's official newspaper offered the most glowing coverage of this phenomenon. 

***

Excerpt from The Restan Star

Kares the 15th, 3E7

Occulus Program Launches the Eyes of the Mennon Campaign

By Phineas Desmond

While work continues in Galeon on the five vessels that will carry troops from around the world to battle in Allene and Mennon, Restan engineers have been set on laying the groundwork for the campaign.

"We can only prepare so much for an enemy who is literally worlds away. We believe it was Crane's wish for us to develop a means to study our foes," says Samuel Whitetree of the Seres Machinist's Union (S.M.U.)

This reasoning ultimately led to the unveiling of the Occulus Program, an initiative to scout targets across long distances.

"To put it simply, we have been experimenting with derivatives of Galean satellite technology for years," adds Professor Whitetree. "Once we succeeded in creating our own version, we decided to adapt the technology for long-range travel."

The system works by launching a satellite out of the atmosphere, equipped with an excess of fuel. As it makes its long journey, it will release communication relays that will allow it to transmit high definition images gathered through its camera.

The Occulus Program launched two modules yesterday at 11 p.m.. One is headed for Allene and is planned to arrive by the Month of Amora. The.second will make its way directly to Mennon, where it I'd projected to arrive in the Month of Gyanda.

***

The Occulus represented a new hope for the Starlight Crusade, which had to contend with countless precedents waiting to be set as it began its exploration of the solar system. Beyond that, it represented a triumph for the engineers of Resta, who have always been technologically outpaced by Galean researchers at the Fides Academy of Engineering. Thus, the program was introduced to the public in a storm of fanfare that Restans matched in their enthusiasm. But the goodwill gained from the launch of the these probes didn't last.

***

Excerpt from The Restan Star

Amora the 12th, 3E8

Occulus One Arrives on Allene

by Abigail Hawke

The Seres Machinist’s Union (S.M.U.) rejoiced today as they received its first signals of the first Occulus Module, reporting images of the condition on the surface of Allene.

“The success of the first module has been very heartening to us,” stated Professor Samuel Whitetree of the S.M.U. “With it, we have proven that we can carry our own weight in the field of interstellar transmission technology. The applications for our designs could be far greater than we had initially imagined. Aside from being a victory for the war effort of all of Comalan, it is a rare technological victory for Resta.”

The specific details of the collected data is classified to all but the highest levels of world leadership. This has led to some controversy in Galeon, which remains the only country not to have received any of the data.

“The inherent transparency of Galeon’s system of government makes it difficult to know who to trust with secure information,” said General Victor Swan of the Restan Army. “Once we can determine a body that will handle the data without allowing it into the hands of the public, they will get their copy.”

This news was greeted with outrage from Galeon, many of whose citizens believe that the information should be publicly available. Despite this pressure, King Baldus has backed General Swan’s decision.

***

The day that the Occulus probes first began to transmit data of conditions on the planet Allene was met with months of anticipation. Unfortunately, the premature announcement of this development came without any specific details regarding the information that the Occulus program collected. The data was quickly marked as sensitive to the war effort and kept away from the public, despite weeks of secretive debate between world leaders. Keeping the public in the dark turned out to be detrimental to morale of the Starlight Crusaders and made the Occulus project a source of scorn. Faith in the Crusade dwindled, until...

***

Excerpt from The Restan Star

Ames the 27th, 3E8

Break-in at S.M.U. Headquarters

by Phineas Desmond

The Seres Machinist’s Union (S.M.U.) reported a troubling break-in at their headquarters in Seres yesterday. The incident occured the night before, and nearly went unnoticed. The Restan Star got a chance to speak with the lab assistant responsible for discovering the break-in and he had the following to say:

“I was looking through the logs during routine maintenance and found that someone had signed in with Professor Whitetree’s credentials. This wouldn’t have been considered odd, usually, but the professor has been in Galeon for a development conference all weekend. When I looked through the supposed intruder’s activity, I discovered that they copied some of our surveillance software and the data that we have collected. On a hunch, I also checked our supplies and found a spare computer and two transmission receivers missing.”

S.M.U. Officials refuse to comment on the implications of this theft, but the assistant speculates that it is related to the implementation of the Occulus Project. The Restan Star will report more facts as we receive them.

***

News of this break-in seemed baffling, to say the least. With everyone in the world presumably representing the same side of the coming war, it didn't seem likely that the Occulus was being targeted by enemies. While many people felt vindicated by S.M.U.'s poor handling of such sensitive technology, the disappearance of the Occulus module was a source of panic worldwide. What happened to the Occulus and the nature of the program's results are a story for another time. Suffice it to say that the information it collected would prove critical to the Starlight Crusade both tactically and, for some of its leaders, personally.

To The Common Men of Piers Territory

The following is an editorial published in The Canary, the paper of the radical peoples' movement in Heron, which calls for abolition of the nobility and full social equality for the Heronite peasantry. This particular letter addresses the death of Lord Colin Piers, notorious for his strict anti-resistance policies, and the ascension of his illegitimate son to the lordship. 

***

Since the killing of Colin Piers, change has rippled throughout the territory—and some of these changes will benefit the honest man, no doubt. All common men and women know how a single ration of grain can mean the difference between survival and starvation, how one barrel of oil can mean the difference between warmth and the bitter cold of Heronite winter, or how a few copper pieces can mean the difference between dying by debt collector or living to see another day of work. The ascension of Aden Piers has certainly brought less death and destruction to the poor of the territory than the infamous reign of his father, which will live on in the stories we tell our children as a time that must always be remembered, lest we forget and allow ourselves to once again be subjected to such tyranny. However, the mere fact that the son can be reasoned with should not be cause for complacency.

Has the work we have done all our lives and the hardships we have had to endure been only enough to pay for a single ration of grain? A lone oil barrel? A few copper pieces? Of course not! And yet, when I look at my fellow common men, I see the fire in their souls has not been replenished by this progress, but doused as if these few added comforts were a pail of water! There are men who have been made to work the mines every single day from childhood to old age. There are women who have been repeatedly abused by corrupt, power-drunk guards. There are parents who have lost their children to treatable illnesses and children who have been stolen from their parents at the whim of corrupt nobles. Are these few concessions really enough to satisfy us? Perhaps for a few weeks, months, maybe even years. We cannot allow our movement of common men to lose momentum when the opportunity for change is at its ripest!

While it does no good to never rejoice in small victories, lest we lose all hope, the honest men of Heron must not lose sight of the true goal we all strive for—freedom. Would one call a dog whose leash has been lengthened a free dog? Certainly not! And so, the honest men of the Piers territory are not free. Do not allow yourself to be fooled by the words of lying men just because they speak sweetly rather than shout.

  To the Common Men of Heron,

  from your editor, John Thorn.